Far, Far Away
by Jaha Canon
Summary: Takes place during Grilled Cheesus. Burt struggles with the seemingly impossible task of getting home.


**Far, Far Away**

**By: Jaha Canon**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anybody. **

**Note: Burt-centric fic that takes place during the (amazing) episode Grilled Cheesus.**

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There was a sharp pain in his chest. Then all of the sudden the ground came crashing into him.

He barely registered hearing "hey man, are you OK?" before it all went dark...

"_Sshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."_

Burt heard radio static. He looked down and saw it was his car radio. He was sitting in the drivers seat and the engine was on.

Outside the car there was piles, upon piles of snow and more pouring down. He could hardly see a thing. No sane person would try to drive in these conditions.

Nevertheless, he was going somewhere.

Despite the fact Burt Hummel was born and raised in Ohio, he only drove in this bad of a snow storm once before. Kurt was about four years old at the time and Burt and his wife left their son with a babysitter and went on a date. No one predicted the gigantic snowstorm that hit Lima that evening. Cell phones weren't so common then and they had no way to contact Kurt's babysitter.

If they stopped at a hotel, it would have been Kurt's first night without his parents under the same roof. Kate Hummel was adamant that they not allow that to happen. "Not until he's 16!" she half-joked, causing Burt to laugh a bit and shake his head. She pictured their son crying and distressed that they're not home. Burt couldn't claim that he felt any less anxious to get home to their little boy. So the trouble carefully drove home. It was like they had to fight for every yard as they slowly made their way home.

It was around midnight when they arrived home. It was worth every bit of the struggle to see Kurt stop crying upon seeing him and then watching as the child promptly fell asleep cuddled in their arms.

Breaking out of the flashback, Burt focused on the already hard-to-see road.

_'I have to get home to Kurt!' _

The thought jumped into his head with a wave of panic.

This is just like that time years ago! Except for this time there was no babysitter.

_**'Kurt's all by himself!'**_

Burt took a moment to try to center himself. Kurt was a teenager now, not a small child. Even though he looks like he could be twelve, he possesses maturity that other kids his age only pretend to have. Sure, he might be worried that his dad is out in the snow somewhere, but it's nothing that a phone call won't fix.

_Odd,_ Burt thought. His phone wasn't where he usually puts it.

He thought he heard the sound of an ambulance and for some reason he knew that it was coming for him. He had a fuzzy memory of chest pain and then darkness, but it didn't really make sense, so he dismissed it.

"_SSSssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh... crk crk..."_

Static was still coming from the radio. The radio was struggling to find a station and communicate with the world outside the car.

Burt couldn't bring himself to turn off the radio or change the channel. He didn't feel like he could and he left like if he turned off the radio, he would lose touch with the outside world forever.

"_Ssssssssssssssshhhhh... crk crk... sshhh... _Dad._.. sssshhhh..."_

Burt was startled. Was that Kurt's voice he was barely hearing above the static?

"_Ssshhh_If_shhhhh..._ you can... _crkk_hear me.._.. sshhhhhh..._. squ_sshhhh_eeze my hand_sshhhh.._."

_'Squeeze his hand.' _Burt commanded himself. But where was Kurt's hand? It was somewhere far, far away from him. Impossibly far away.

The snow outside wasn't letting up and in all of this time, the car hardly traveled at all.

Frustrated, Burt cursed and hit the steering wheel.

"Just calm down, Burt, you'll make it." a voice next to him suddenly said.

Burt turned his head to see Kate sitting in the passenger seat. It felt like the most normal thing on Earth even though in his mind Burt knew that it wasn't right somehow.

"Kurt's waiting." Kate said, fixing a serious gaze at Burt.

Burt nodded, gripped the wheel and attempted for the millionth time to see through the storm.

When he was in this situation years ago and he got frustrated, Kate offered to take over driving. This time, however, she didn't. This task was Burt's and Burt's alone. Kate can't drive this vehicle and she couldn't for years now. She can't make Burt reach his destination, she can only sit there and hope to pray.

"_Sssssssssssssh... krc... krc... _Papa... _ssshhhhh_please forgive... _krcsssshhhh_ me. _Shh_Try to _sshhhhh_ understand _krc_me."

A girls voice. Singing.

_'Not Kurt.' _

"What a beautiful song." Kate commented, as if the static didn't bother her at all.

Burt could only frown. _'Where is Kurt?'_ he wondered. '_Is he OK?'_

"Papa_ssshhhhhh _how I _krc krc_miss you... _ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_kissing me _sssshhhh_good_krc_night."

Then came the soft sounds of Kurt's voice. He could just barely recognize the hum of the way his son talked, but no words. He sounded upset. He heard another familiar voice... Carole?

He couldn't forget Carole. Carole is waiting for him, too. He felt guilty that his panic to reach Kurt made him forget the woman he was dating.

Meanwhile, he was sitting right next to Kate. He looked over at her and met her understanding gaze. She knew and it was OK. For a moment he wanted to reach out his hand to squeeze hers, but then he remembered that he couldn't. He couldn't squeeze anyone's hand.

Not Carole's. Not Kate's. And not Kurt's.

He remembered Kurt's plea again.

"_Dad, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand."_

And he remembered hearing the awful sound of Kurt's sobs when he couldn't do just that one simple thing for him. Once again, he was angry. Angry at the road. The storm. Furious at his inability to do even the smallest thing to comfort his only son.

"Dad... _shhhhsshhhhshh"_

Kurt's voice again on the radio.

"_Sshhhhhhhkrckrc_... I sang a _sshhhhhh_song for _krc_you in _ssshhh_ Glee today."

Then his voice faded into the static and Burt couldn't hear it. Then, it came back...

"Nows_hshhhhhkc_ let me _krcshhh_ hold your ha_sshhh_nd. _Ssshh_I wanna_krc_ hold your _sshhh_ hand."

"I GET IT, KURT!" Burt exclaimed, hitting the steering wheel, but the song continued. Words intermingled with static and sobs. Far, far away.

"You'll make it, Burt." Kate said, "just take this storm inch my inch. Remember Kurt's face when we walked through the door and he saw us? It was worth the struggle, wasn't it?"

"It was." Burt replied.

Snow, snow and more snow. The car was pretty much stuck in place but it felt like with a little effort he'd be able to get it to move. Perhaps he could be stronger than this awful storm.

An inch! He moved forward an inch!

He pleaded with any God or Gods that may or may not exist that he would gain another inch, then another.

Kurt's voice came back over the radio. Something about church that Burt couldn't make out.

"I don't_krc sshhhhhhhhh_believe in _krckrc_God, _sshhsshhhhhhh_Dad_sssshhhhhh_."

The car was moving slowly, but it was definitely moving. It was no longer inches he was fighting for, but feet, then yards.

"_Sshhhhh_ But I believe _krckrcsshhh_ in you."

Kurt's voice on the radio began to sound clearer and clearer. The static was beginning to clear.

"But _sssshhhhhh_ I believe in you. And I believe in us. _Ssshhhh_... You and me."

There Burt was- sitting in his car on the curb outside of his house.

Kate smiled at him, "This is why I love you, Burt."

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The static was gone and it was dark. He could only hear Kurt's crystal clear voice-

"-that's what's sacred to me."

Then he could feel that was laying down.

He could hear Kurt saying that he regretted never saying all of this to him when he had the chance and wanted to tell him that he could hear him. He couldn't speak yet.

He felt a hand holding his own.

_'Squeeze it.'_ he commanded himself. It was weak, but he did it.

"Dad?" he heard his son say. He could still almost hear the tears coming from Kurt's eyes, but there was relief in his voice.

He felt Kurt jump to his feet, still holding his hand. The teenager called for a nurse.

"Dad, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Kurt promised.

_'Neither am I.'_ Burt silently promised back.

In just a little while, Burt will be able to open his eyes and tell his son that everything is going be OK. That his world is not falling apart and that he would take care of him.

-End-

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**Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this story. I'm mostly just writing this note to explain why perhaps I might not have shown much of an understanding of what it's like to be in a snowstorm or a coma. My reasoning is, well, I've never been in a snow storm or a coma. I'm a native Californian and I'm pretty sure that the worst injury I've ever had was a mild concussion. At this point in my life, I intend to keep it that way. :) So, those of you who have direct experience with these things, please understand that I don't. Thanks!**


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